Several people had praised Outlaws of Ravenhurst by Sister M. Imelda Wallace, S.L., so I got a copy of the Neumann Press 2015 republication of the book and added it to my pile of works to read.
I decided to dig it out a couple of days ago, realizing it was about Scotland, and I was going to attend a Celtic Faire over the weekend. Serendipity!
I enjoyed the book. It was an interesting story, I found the protagonist likable. And as a descendant of Scottish Catholics, I found the religious nature of the book and its exploration of Catholic persecution in Scotland (and Great Britain) intriguing.
The writing was not always smooth, and some plot elements seemed a stretch, but it was certainly much better as a story and morally than a lot of contemporary YA books.
I fear that because it is an older book - published in 1923 - with an older book style, and was very Catholic in nature, it will have only a limited audience. That's a shame.
I'm thinking of passing it on to a middle school student I know who loves to read and is from a solid Catholic family.
I give this book a thumbs up.
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